August 13 - O.K. Go

OK Go is a rock band. Their songs get on the radio, and they've played sold-out shows --but the group is far better known for their really complex and elaborate videos. As we begin a new school year, OK Go has a lot to say to us about bringing creativity into our writing and projects. You see, OK Go could have been like other popular bands with music videos, but they decided to make their videos something beyond every other band’s videos --something one of a kind and so creative that viewers watch them over and over. This week we will look at some of OK Go’s videos as a reminder to “Think differently” and make your ideas stand out.

​This VIDEO has been viewed 41 million times. Just who are all those millions of viewers? It turns out many of them are teachers and their students! Watch and you’ll see why! ...oh, and remember --all the guitars, drums, and singing are these four creative guys!

CREATIVE THINKING SKILL:As we begin a new school year do your best and then give it something special that makes it your’s!

August 14 - Teachers say they weave the band's videos into lessons about science, math and art — today’s video was perfect for introducing concepts like gravity, transfer of motion, perspective, quadratic equations, parabolas and the importance of failure and persistence.​Today’s OK Go video is filmed in zero gravity in an airplane! It’s another popular one with 12 million views. The band is flying — and singing and dancing — in an anti-gravity plane; they open a box of balls and the little spheres just float through space, suspended in air. This is NOT trick photography. What you see is actually what it is like to fly in zero gravity.

August 15 When a friend or a fan tells us they’ve enjoyed something, that’s an idea coming home to us. We’re always proud when one of our ideas has gone out and met nice people and brightened a day or two. But when we hear from a teacher, that’s an idea coming home to say it’s been off volunteering and building a better world. These teachers are heroes. Rock videos aren’t the first place anyone would look for educational material, so when one of ours shows up in a class, we can be sure the teacher has gone actively exploring unexpected territory for wonder and inspiration to bring back for their students. That’s noble. They’ve dedicated their lives to the betterment of others. We, on the other hand, spend our time playing guitar and shooting confetti at people and trying to weasel our way onto zero gravity planes.SLIDE 2: Believe it or not, OK Go launched a new project called OK Go Sandbox. It’s their attempt to support teachers with a collection of materials they can use in the classroom and in planning lessons. This is the homepage of that website which can be found at OK Go Sandbox.SLIDE 3: Today we look at one of those teaching, rock videos found on OK Go Sandbox, that uses a series of simple machines, to create a single chain reaction machine, timed perfectly to their song. So perfectly in fact, that one section of the machine actually plays a part of the song itself. This video has hands-on lessons for kids!

August 16This week we have enjoyed watching the creativity of OK Go. Today we get a tiny peek at the challenges and planning that are part of their creativity.SLIDE 2: This is part of a video explaining how they did the video for “This Too Shall Pass” (show all of video it is edited to correct length)SLIDE 3: This video is a shortened clip from how they accomplished “Needing/Getting.”

WEEK OF AUGUST 20TH!

​WHAT DO CREATIVE PEOPLE DO?

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE CREATIVE?Creative people are always using their imagination. Let’s look at a few of the ways they do that…

*Creative people are always looking for shapes in the clouds that remind them of real or magical things. Do you?*Creative people like to imagine they see faces in everyday things. Do you?*Creative people love being outdoors instead of inside the house. Do you?*Creative people like to imagine they are in other worlds, just like the characters in the book, “Bridge to Terabithia.” Do you? That book is in the library --it is a book creative people love.*When riding their bikes or traveling in a car, creative people like to imagine they are flying or in a rocket. Do you?*Creative people much rather read than play video games. Reading lets them imagine they are in the book and living what is happening. They see video games as the same thing over and over. Do you?*Creative people sometimes imagine people are someone other than who they are. Ever think you teacher was like Nanny McPhee?*Creative people have fun looking at foods and imagining what they look like. Do you?*Creative kids would much rather build a fort for a battle than watch a video they’ve seen over and over. Do you?*Creative people use their imagination to make even boring jobs fun. Do you?

USING YOUR IMAGINATION!!!What can a circle be?

How many different things can your imagination come up with to make from a simple circle?

Did you think of a fish?

What about a cookie or a teddy bears head or a smiley face?

Did you think of a clock or the world or a wheel?

Did you imagine a lady bug, an apple, or a pizza?

PRACTICE GROWING YOUR CREATIVITY by drawing a whole bunch of circles and turning each into something different!

THE CIRCLE CHALLENGE!!!!

Come up with your own ideas to the circle challenge. Try to think of something no one else will think of.... Here's how to help your imagination do this.

Think in categories! Think of things that are round or have something on them that is round in different types of things.

1. things you eat or drink2. things you play with3. things you wear4. parts of the human body or body of a specific animal5. things you see in the sky6. things in nature7. things that have machines or are digital8. things that found in fantasy stories9. things you do10. things at work or sports